Local TikToker Juixxe is a viral smash helping people in need
Local TikTok influencer, Juixxe, has done it again.
He gave $1,000 to another hard-working San Diego taco vendor and created a tear-jerking video that went viral, generating 1.1 million “likes” within five days.
After the pandemic broke out, Jesús Morales, who goes by @Juixxe on TikTok, lost his job at a gym. So he began using TikTok, not just for entertainment and posting an occasional funny video, but as a vehicle to help struggling street vendors by randomly handing them large amounts of cash.
They’re strangers. Morales, who lives in National City, strikes up a brief conversation but seldom learns their names. As video viewership spirals upward, he gets lucrative branding opportunities on TikTok. So, it is a win-win.
About three months ago, he approached a young man at a bus stop by the Paradise Hills Shopping Center. He asked the fellow if he had a driver’s license. After getting a yes, Morales handed the astonished man keys to a 2017 Ford Focus, along with the registration paperwork.
The car was valued at about $17,000 — although the dealership, upon learning of his plan to give it away, had offered him a good deal.
“It took me three days to find someone with a license,” Morales says. “It was the most awesome moment.”
When the incredulous youth called his mother and announced, “Mom, I just got a free car,” Morales laughingly recalls having to convince her it wasn’t a scam.
He records his giveaways on his iPhone, sometimes with the help of his girlfriend and friends, and posts the video with his commentary on TikTok. Usually he simply hands the vendor $1,000 in an envel
ope sealed with his “J” symbol — no strings attached.
That’s what happened late last week at Teodoro Jimenez’s Blue Fire Bliss taco stand. It sits in front of the Mex Mart convenience store at 1740 S. 43rd St. in San Diego’s Shelltown neighborhood bordering National City.
But this time, Morales went further. He scribbled “Free Tacos” on a poster and for an hour waved in passersby to pick up a free meal — on him.
“I like helping people and the element of surprise,” he says. “I love to watch people’s faces light up when they’re not expecting anything.”
He gave Jimenez $600 to pay for the tacos given away.
Joshua Jimenez, 18, is one of Teodoro’s six kids and helps with the food stand. His father, who also works at a restaurant in downtown San Diego, was surprised and amazed.
He added that his dad, who choked back tears on the video, described the experience as surreal — an amazing act of support and help from the community.
Since the video was posted late last week, menu orders have been back-toback with lines of customers, Joshua says.
In fall 2021, Morales, 24,
was named to TikTok’s yearly Latinx TikTok Trailblazers list, an elite group of 15 content creators. At the time, he had amassed 1.3 million followers on TikTok and helped raise more than $136,000 for Southern California street vendors.
Now 26, he has 3.6 million followers, more than 98.9 million “likes” for his videos and says he has given away more than $300,000 to street vendors.
“It’s a huge blessing, and I don’t take this for granted,” Morales says. “I try to do my best to use this as a platform every day to give back to the community. I’m going to continue as long as I can pay my rent and raise my family,” adds the father of a 2-year-old son.
When he learned that Jimenez was saving the $1,000 to buy a food truck,
Morales did something else. He started a GoFundMe campaign for a food truck, which amassed $10,000 in just two days and, by today, exceeded $16,000.
His biggest single giveaway to date was $20,000 to a street vendor he saw on a video being harassed and taunted by a group of young men. Morales posted the video and asked for help identifying the vendor so he could help him. Within a week, he found the man and had raised $20,000 for him.
Morales’ mind is swimming with a multitude of creative giveaway ideas. He hopes, someday, to rival famous philanthropic YouTuber “Mr. Beast.”
“I hope to be doing cooler things to impact more people as the money grows,” says Morales, who relies on donations from social media followers augmented by the Venmo Challenge fund and, to a lesser extent, the TikTok creators fund. He also raises money from his paid brand partnerships.
“The twist to me is to be able to tie it into my community for people who might be struggling.”
Morales isn’t aware of other TikTokers doing the same as he is, however, he would welcome the competition.
“It would be cool for someone to imitate what I do. I never thought I would inspire someone to do something. That is such a positive.”
Morales focuses on street vendors because he sees how humble they are and how hard they work to earn money to raise their families.
His parents were Spanish-speaking immigrants but not street vendors. Nevertheless, they arrived here penniless and struggled to live their dream. His father now runs an auto body shop in Illinois, and his mother formerly worked for a bank.
He credits TikTok for changing his life. “I did a 180. This has given me opportunities I never would have expected with people I never expected. I do this for a living. That’s so weird to say. I am so grateful and so thankful.”
And so are the street vendors he has touched.